All posts by Gary Huber

Cart is Open – Blackberries, Bacon Gouda, and More!

August 19, 2015
by Gary Huber

Time to Shop!

 

The online shopping cart is open. To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop. The online cart will close Sunday, Aug. 23 at midnight. Distribution is Thurs., Aug. 27 at all our sites except Ames, which is on Friday, Aug. 28.

Below are updates from our producers. As we move through the growing season, producers continue to add new items throughout the week, so be sure to check back often. You can click here to see new products added since last cycle!

NOTE: We have home delivery in the Des Moines area. Three home delivery products (based on your distance from our Franklin Avenue location) are listed under Iowa Food Cooperative products. Deliveries are from 6-9 pm on distribution Thursdays. If you want home delivery, choose “Franklin Plaza (Delivery)” as your Pickup/Delivery location when you open your shopping basket and put the appropriate product in your shopping cart. Here’s a map to help know which product to purchase.

Also, our 2015 calendar is available in a PDF (click to view).

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Riverview Berry Farms (West Bend) is back with their fresh-picked blackberries. We remember these from last summer – really nice, large berries – you won’t be disappointed.

From Charlie with Timberlea Farm (Boone): “We have an excellent aronia berry crop that we try to make them affordable ($8 for 5 lbs or $3.25/quart) so anyone can try them. They are often called the “superberry” because of their health benefits.”

From Ben with Wabi Sabi Farm (Des Moines): “I’ve listed the last of the Certified Organic Red Skinned Potatoes and added Certified Organic ‘German Butterball’ Potatoes, Certified Organic soft neck garlic (Inchellium) and Certified Organic hard neck garlic (Chesnok Red).”

New Family Farm (Elkhart) added Nicola and Sangre potatoes, Cory Family Farm (Elkhart) added Yukon Gold potatoes, and Wilted Leaf Farm (Cambridge) added Kennebec and “Magic Molly” blue potatoes – blue skin, blue flesh with (Jason says) an awesome taste. 

Country Roads Produce (Moravia) added sweet mini snack peppers and onions. Their tomatoes are slowing down and they didn’t list many snack peppers (they’re already all gone – sorry) because they aren’t sure how they’ll ripen. If it looks like they’ll have more, they’ll add them during the week.

From Julie with Zaza’s Pasta (Iowa City): “Just wanted to let you know that I’ve re-listed my products and all my dry pastas have a new LOWER price.”

Frisian Farms Cheese (Oskaloosa) added some new gouda cheeses – two sizes of a bacon gouda and one called “Frisian Farms Sneek” (aged 1,000 days – can’t wait to try it).

Namaste Gardens (Des Moines) added shallots and garlic and Bucumi Simon (Des Moines) added leeks and shallots.

Yoke S Ranch (Russell) has their New York Strip steak on sale for this cycle at $9.00/lb. 

Thank You Jennifer Miller!

August 18, 2015
by Gary Huber

Jenn MillerThe Iowa Food Co-op thanks Jennifer Miller, who has been our Communications Coordinator since April 2013. The reason is she’s decided to take a break to concentrate on making her farm – Clarion Sage Farm – a success.

Jen spent many hours helping the IFC mature into an amazing enterprise. Her work included getting us established on Facebook, planning many different events, visiting with producers and consumers, reaching out to media, and working on our e-newsletter, website and software.

One measure of her impact is that during her tenure we added 500 new members (now almost 1,100 total!). Another is that average sales per distribution grew from $7,765 the year before she started to $13,685 in her final year – an increase of almost $6,000 per distribution!

The IFC wouldn’t be where it is today without Jen’s efforts. For this we are extremely grateful.

And the icing on the cake: she helped us find our new Communications Coordinator, Ash Bruxvoort. We are lucky to have Ash to continue a great IFC tradition of reaching out to the IFC community and keeping our co-op growing!

Thank you Jen – we will be seeing you around!

 

Meet Ash Bruxvoort – IFC’s New Communications Coordinator!

August 17, 2015
by Gary Huber

We have some exciting news!

Jennifer Miller, who’s been our Communications Coordinator since April 2013, is moving on so she can focus on her farming enterprise (Clarion Sage Farm). Jennifer did an amazing job helping us grow. For that we are deeply grateful.

She also helped us find her replacement, so please help us welcome aboard Ash Bruxvoort!

Ash recently returned to the Des Moines area after taking a year to work on organic farms in western Iowa, northern California, and central New York. She grew up on a conventional farm in Mitchellville, Iowa, where she is starting her own homestead.

ashbruxvoortAsh has a BA in English, Nonprofit Management, and Philanthropy Communication from the University of Iowa. She is a passionate online marketer who specializes in nonprofit marketing and marketing for farms.

“When I lived in New York most of the food I ate was grown within fifteen miles of me. I never thought that kind of local diet was possible in Iowa until I discovered Iowa Food Co-op,” she said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of providing more local food options for consumers.”

Ash has done writing and online marketing for several organizations, including The Nature Conservancy in Iowa, the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network, and Local Foods Connection. Her writing about agriculture and conservation has appeared in Edible Omaha, Modern Farmer, Seedstock, and Precision Ag Magazine.

Ash will focus on streamlining our communications processes to ensure members can stay up to date with our cart cycle. She will also update our Facebook and Instagram, produce our e-newsletter, and update our website. We greatly appreciate her enthusiasm and skills. You can connect with her on Twitter or Instagram @campcreekpunk, or shoot her an email at ashbruxvoort.writer@gmail.com.

 

IFC Distribution Today (Tomorrow in Ames)!

August 13, 2015
by Gary Huber

This is being sent via email to everyone who ordered this cycle and have products to be picked up. Today is distribution at our Osceola, Albia, Indianola, and Des Moines area sites, and tomorrow is distribution in Ames. Our alternative pick up time is Saturday from 10:30 am to noon at our Franklin Plaza site. If you need to pick up then and haven’t told us already, please let us know with a call to 515-450-6812.

Pick-up is Thursday

August 10, 2015
by Gary Huber

189 members ordered 2,119 different items this cycle. Total purchases were almost $12,000. Last year’s number for the same cycle was just over $13,000. Not sure why the drop in sales (vacations???), but hopefully we return to the kind of growth we’ve been having recently.

Anyway, if you are getting this message as an email, YOU’VE ORDERED SOMETHING that will need to be picked up (each cycle one or two people don’t realize they’ve ordered because our system doesn’t use a check-out step). Three things about distribution:

1. Pick-up is Thursday at our Des Moines-area sites, plus Osceola and Albia. Our Ames pick-up is on Friday. Details on times and locations are available with this link.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.

2. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Aug. 15. If you need to use this alternative pick up time, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

3. We can accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

Final note: It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

Cart is Open – Summer’s Bounty is Here!

August 5, 2015
by Gary Huber

Time to Shop!

 

The online shopping cart is open. To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop. The online cart will close Sunday, Aug. 9th at midnight. Distribution is Thurs., Aug. 13th at all our sites except Ames, which is on Friday, Aug. 14th.

Below are updates from our producers. As we move through the growing season, producers continue to add new items throughout the week, so be sure to check back often. You can click here to see new products added since last cycle!

NOTE: We have home delivery in the Des Moines area. Three home delivery products (based on your distance from our Franklin Avenue location) are listed under Iowa Food Cooperative products. Deliveries are from 6-9 pm on distribution Thursdays. If you want home delivery, choose “Franklin Plaza (Delivery)” as your Pickup/Delivery location when you open your shopping basket and put the appropriate product in your shopping cart. Here’s a map to help know which product to purchase.

Also, our 2015 calendar is available in a PDF (click to view).

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Jeremiah Coñejo Farm (Des Moines) is a new IFC producer that’s listed pickling cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes and several kinds of hot peppers.

Sipma Farms (Mitchellville) added acorn squash.

Olson Family Farm (Madrid) added sweet corn (it’s really good).

Pickle Creek Herbal (Brighton) added garlic.

Heritage Hill Farm (Ames) added French Fingerling potatoes.

Matthew (Colfax) added four kinds of tomatoes and two kinds of sweet bell peppers (green and lime).

Harvest Moon Farms (St. Charles) added beets, fingerling potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and grape tomatoes.

Wabi Sabi Farm (Des Moines) added certified organic chocolate mint (a tasty addition to homemade ice cream or your favorite summertime adult drinks like mojitos) and certified organic red potatoes.

The Berry Patch Farm (Nevada) added three apple products: 5 lb bags of Paulared (an early tart apple that’s great for apple sauce) plus 3 and 10 lb bags of mixed early season apples (Williams Pride, Redfree, Paulared).

Ta Kaw Paw added three kinds of kale, red & white onions, and yellow & red potatoes.

Sky Heart Farm added red & white onions, yellow & red potatoes, basil, and garlic.

Eating Well Farm added Red Maria and Desiree potatoes, white onions, tongue of fire dry beans, and garlic.

Ta Kaw Htoo added red & white onions, okra, and roselle leaves.

Bucumi Simon added two varieties of beets, carrots, African eggplant, basil, parsley, garlic, amaranth greens, kale, red & white onions, green peppers, five varieties of potatoes, and cherry & red tomatoes.

Jipatie Afya added four varieties of potatoes, dry beans, beets, amaranth greens, African eggplant, and four varieties of tomatoes.

Good Shepard Grass Farms (Monroe) added beef bratwurst with cheese to their selection of hot dogs and brats (it’s grilling time!).

From Shanen with Ebersole Cattle Company (Kellerton): “We have a new harvest including Grass-Fed sirloin steaks and extra-lean Grass-Fed ground beef.”

Lucky George Farm (Derby) added some new and interesting products from their award-willing Large Black heritage breed herd including Canadian Bacon, Bratwurst, Lard, and Leaf Lard. They’ve also added rabbit summer sausage and Lucky George Farm t-shirts.

Yoke S Ranch (Russell) has their filet mignon (tenderloin) from their Corriente beef herd on sale this cycle.

Special K Ranch (Chariton) has some specials this cycle: 1) buy ten lbs of hamburger (product #4303) and get one free; 2) buy five pounds Beef Sticks and get one free, and 3) buy a chuck or sirloin roast and get a free package of liver.

7 Pines Farm (Maxwell) added a nice selection of lamb products including chops, Kabob meat, leg of lamb, stew meat.

IFC Distribution Today (Tomorrow in Ames)!

July 30, 2015
by Gary Huber

This is being sent via email to everyone who ordered this cycle and have products to be picked up. Today is distribution at our Osceola, Albia, Indianola, and Des Moines area sites, and tomorrow is distribution in Ames. Our alternative pick up time is Saturday from 10:30 am to noon at our Franklin Plaza site. If you need to pick up then and haven’t told us already, please let us know with a call to 515-450-6812.

Pick-up is Thursday

July 27, 2015
by Gary Huber

We had 203 members order 2,388 different items this cycle. Total purchases were just under $14,000 (last year’s number was $11,309, so looks like about a 24% growth for same cycle sales).

NOTE: IF YOU ARE getting this message as an email, YOU’VE ORDERED SOMETHING that will need to be picked up (each cycle there’s people who don’t realize they’ve ordered because they didn’t complete a check-out step, which our system doesn’t use).

Three things about distribution:

1. Pick-up is Thursday at our Des Moines-area sites, plus Osceola and Albia. Our Ames pick-up is on Friday. Details on times and locations are available with this link.

NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT AS THEY GET READY.

2. NOTE: Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, Aug. 1. If you need to use this alternative pick up time, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

3. We can accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment

Final note: It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.

Cart is Open – Sweet Corn, Fresh-Picked Aronia Berries, and More!

July 22, 2015
by Gary Huber

Time to Shop!

 

The online shopping cart is open. As we move through the growing season, our producers continue to add new items. Inventories are being updated throughout the week, so be sure to check back often. Below are updates from our producers.

NOTE: We have home delivery in the Des Moines area. Three home delivery products (based on your distance from our Franklin Avenue location) are listed under Iowa Food Cooperative products. Deliveries are from 6-9 pm on distribution Thursdays. If you want home delivery, choose “Franklin Plaza (Delivery)” as your Pickup/Delivery location when you open your shopping basket and put the appropriate product in your shopping cart. Here’s a map to help know which product to purchase.

÷«Our 2015 calendar is available in a PDF (click to view), and you can click here to see new products added since last cycle!

To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop. The online cart will close Sunday, July 26th at midnight. Distribution is Thurs., July 30th at all our sites except Ames, which is on Friday, July 31st.

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New stuff:

From Lee with Lee’s Greens (Nevada): “We added sweet corn to go along with our herbs, micro greens, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, summer squash, and new potatoes. We also have a selection of mints that are great in drinks (I really like the chocolate mint in lemonade).”

Sweet Rewards Gluten-Free Bakery (Waukee) listed for the first time last cycle, and for this cycle they’ve added Champagne & Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.

Iowa Orchard (Urbandale) listed tree-ripened Missouri peaches and The Berry Patch Farm (Nevada) listed blueberries.

Sunrise (Woodward) listed fresh-picked certified organic Aronia berries to go along with two varieties of garlic.

Wedel Grazing Acres (Riceville) is taking off this cycle. Kyle writes: “It’s been over a year since I’ve missed a day on the farm. Were headed to Alberta to see my wife’s family, then down into Idaho for a Wedel family reunion, camping at a campground along the Moyie River. Idaho is where I was born and lived until age of 12.”

Good Shepard Grass Farms (Monroe) added hot dogs and bratwurst and they’ve brought back summer sausage, beef sticks, and bologna.

Sipma Farms (Mitchellville) added family-sized bottles of their All-Natural Bug Repellent, Turkish Turban Squash, and two kinds of Goat’s Milk Soap (Peppermint and Coconut), cucumbers (Boston Pickling and Marketmore), and tomatoes (Salad Mix and Roma). 

Country Roads Produce (Moravia) added Jalapeno peppers to go along with their “cupcake” summer squash and tomatoes (red and yellow).

Lucky George Farm (Derby) added Iowa Chops from their Large Black heritage breed herd.

Global Greens farmers (refugees from around the world) continue to offer a wide selection of Certified Naturally Grown fresh produce items. New this cycle are German Butterball potatoes from Bucumi Simon, white onions and Thai long green beans from Ta Kaw Htoo, and red onions from Ta Kaw Paw.

From Cindy with Audubon County Family Farms: “We’ve listed smoked ham hocks. They are great with green beans. Our U-Pick aronia berries should be ready about mid-August depending on the weather.”

Yoke S Ranch (Russell) has minute steaks from their Corriente beef herd on sale for $5.50/lb.

Special K Ranch (Chariton) has two specials: 1) buy ten lbs of hamburger (product #4303 priced @ $4.55/lb) and get one free; 2) buy five pounds Beef Sticks and get one free.

Tesdell Farm Fresh Produce (Slater) added ground lamb and New Family Farm (Elkhart) added Colorado Rose, Purple Majesty, and Yukon Gold potatoes.

IFC Distribution Today (Tomorrow in Ames)!

July 16, 2015
by Gary Huber

This is being sent via email to everyone who ordered this cycle and have products to be picked up. Today is distribution at our Osceola, Albia, Indianola, and Des Moines area sites, and tomorrow is distribution in Ames. Our alternative pick up time is Saturday from 10:30 am to noon at our Franklin Plaza site. If you need to pick up then and haven’t told us already, please let us know with a call to 515-450-6812.